The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1887-03-09

At last nights session of the Senate Mr.
Fowler offered the following resolution
which was adopted:
Resolved, That the following memorial, as an
address TO the people. is adopted by the Senate
As being true, and that the same be spread at
length upon the journal of the Senate.
The following is the memorial, which re-
cites the facts of the most extraordinary
legislative session ever known in the his
tory Of Indiana:
The Memorial.
On the "a day of November last, gen.
eral election was held in Indiana tor the
choice of certain officers of State and of
members of the General Assembly. Within
three days after the election was held the
result as to the Legislature became known,
and the indianapolis Journal published
that the Republicans had seventy-four (74)
members IN the two houses, and the Demo
Gratis seventy-six t76) members therein,
leaving the Democrats two majority upon
joint ballot In this way it was acknowl-
edged by the leading Republican newspaper
of the State, that the will OF the people ex-
pressed under the form of law, had de-
clared that some member of the Demo
cratic party should be elected Senator of
the United States to succeed the Republi-
can then holding that position. This state
ment with respect to the number of the
two parties in the Legislature, and the
Democratic majority of two, was pub
Hshed day after day in the Indianapolis
Journal, and the fact of the majority, of
two, and the effect it would have upon the
Senatorial election, were as well known to
every voter in Indiana at that time as
they are to-day. Nevertheless, within a
few weeks before the meeting of the Gen.
eral Assembly, the Journal, giving tone to
the Republican press and politicians of
the State, asserted with the utmost conf
6eDce that General Harrison was to be re-
elected to the Senate Of the United States
notwithstanding there was a majority Of
two against him in the Legislature; and
Mr.. Huston, a State Senator from the
county of Fsyette, Chairman of the Re
publican State Central Committee repeat
edly made the same declaration, and had
interviews published in which he made the
same statement. Nothing was said about
how this result was to be accomplished.
There were some intimations that Demo
cratic members, one or two, might absent
themselves or refuse to vote for the
nominee OF their caucus, or that the Inde-
pendent Labor members actually preferred
Harrison to any one else for the Senate;
but this, as il Will appear in the sequel, was
a mere blind to conceal the real purpose
which the conspirators, to defeat the popu-
lar will, had already formed and prepared
for execution. How they proposed to
accomplish their design was unknown until
soon after the meeting Of the General
Assembly,.
The General Assembly met pursuant to
law on the 9th day Of January, 1887. The
House of Representatives was Republican
by ten majority. Cornelius Meagher a
Democrat, had been elected Representative
from the county of Vigo by an unques-
tion majority of twenty-oDe votes. Such
election had been regularly certified and
II II L.1 ~ II
Office and had been assigned seat in the
House of Representatives.
On the 18th day OF January, 1887, four
days before the first vote in the Senatorial
election, the House, by a strict party vote,
passed resolution unseating Mr.. Meagher,
striking mis- name from the roll, and declar
ing that one Dickerson, his competitor who
had been defeated by the people of that
county, was the Representative from the
county of Vigo, and entitled to act and
vote as such. This was done upon the
1imsy pretext that Mr.. Meagher had been
elected, some time before his election to
the House, Justice of the Peace, an office
which had been abolished before his elec-
tion TO the Legislature, and none of the
duties of which he had ever exercised.
AS soon as Dickerson, the minority de-
teated candidate, was seated in place Of
Meagher, the plan began to develop the
plot thickened, the conspirators became
bold and confident. 1t was announced,
both publicly and privately, that General
Harrison should certainly return to the
Senate of the United States, and that the
way to do ii was to unseat enough Demo-
Gratis in the House. by whatever methods,
TO destroy the Democratic majority of two
on joint ballot, 80 as TO give him at least
seventy-six votes for United States Senator.
This shows very clearly that the Repub-
Ican House of Representatives thus made
q breach and struck fatal blow at the
freedom of elections, deliberately setting
aside the will of the people and lending
themselves TO the purpose OF that DARK,
lavless clique and cabal which had con-
spired, at all hazards, regardless of law and
regardless Of right, to return their friend
and fsyorite to the Senate OF the United
States. 1t became now very ap-
parent, although plain people have not be-
ore understood it, how these plotters